The Western Sydney Wanderers have today accepted Football Federation Australia’s sanction of a $50,000 fine and suspended three (3) competition point deduction.
“We have always been consistent in our stance on anti-social behaviour and use of flares – that is one of zero tolerance,” said Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas.
“We have 18,000 members who represent our club and our region in a fantastic manner who are being tarnished by the few selfish and narcissistic individuals who are tearing down all our community has created as a Club.
“Our players, staff and members, all of whom have contributed so much to what has been a successful season so far, are all wholeheartedly affected by this outcome and as such we now require new methods and renewed support from our faithful members and fans who want to see our teams and our Club succeed.
“This issue is not isolated to our Club and requires a whole of game response to not just reduce, but eliminate the incidence of flares and anti-social behaviour inside and outside our football matches.
“Those that have brought our Club and our game into disrepute have now forced us to have to introduce some new stricter measures in consultation with the FFA, other clubs, police, venues and security for all of our away matches as well as increasing our attention to home matches to avoid any further negative impact on our Club and our fantastic members.
“We implore all of our members to stand together to ensure we do not receive further sanctions and to assist in fixing this problem for good.”